Message from a mother on Mother's Day

This email was forwarded to me & I thought it would be significant to put it on my blog before Mother's Day is upon us :


This Sunday will be the third Mother's Day that I have spent without my oldest child in my life. Casey was killed in Iraq exactly five weeks before Mother's Day in 2004.

Everyday is an incredible experience of pain and longing: for Casey and for his future and for his here and now. Special days like holidays and birthdays always seem to be harder. Casey will never call me again to wish me Happy Mother's Day. I will never get another funny card from him. I will never have a daughter-in-law or grandchild from Casey.

George and Laura Bush will probably celebrate Mother's Day with their daughters, secure and happy in the fact that they are together. Jenna and Barbara will never be put in harm's way for the avaricious and destructive policies of their father, policies that have sent too many of us world's mothers into a tailspin of grief
and emptiness.

This Mother's Day, I will be joining CODEPINK and mothers from all over the country in holding a 24-hour vigil in front of the White House beginning Saturday, May 13th at 3 pm. We will be demanding an end to the occupation of Iraq before too many more Cindy and Casey Sheehan's are produced. We mothers and children of the world will
also demand that our government not invade Iran and kill any chance for a peaceful world that we may still have. We will be joined there by Susan Sarandon and many other mothers of peace and courage who are working for the same thing.

George Bush has never met with me to answer what noble cause Casey and over 2400 brave young Americans and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have died for.

Fighting a War on Terror with a War of Terror to enrich the war machine is not a noble cause. Peace is.

Please join us to make our noble cause dream a reality. Come to Washington DC if you can
click here for more info.
or
Participate in a local Mother's Day activity.


Support our efforts by
sending a rose
or
making a donation

And work with us in the months ahead as we build a movement of mothers and others powerful enough to stop this war -- and the next one.

Peace,
Cindy Sheehan

How a son understands his daddy at different ages

At 4 Years My daddy is great.
At 6 Years My daddy knows everybody.
At 10 Years My daddy is good but is short tempered
At 12 Years My daddy was very nice to me when I was young
At 14 Years My daddy is getting fastidious.
At 16 Years My daddy is not in line with the current times.
At 18 Years My daddy is becoming increasingly cranky.
At 20 Years Oh! Its becoming difficult to tolerate daddy. Wonder how Mother puts up with him.
At 25 Years Daddy is objecting to everything.
At 30 Years It's becoming difficult to manage my son. I was so scared of my father when I was young.
At 40 Years Daddy brought me up with so much discipline. Even I should do the same
At 45 Years I am baffled as to how my daddy brought us up.
At 50 Years My daddy faced so many hardships to bring us up. I am unable to manage a single son.
At 55 Years My daddy was so far sighted and planned so many things for us. He is one of his kind and unique.
At 60 Years My daddy is great.

Thus, it takes 56 years to complete the cycle and come back to the 1st stage.

Parents !!!

Our Parents.....

When you came into this world
They held you in their arms
You thanked them by
wailing loudly

When you were 1 yr old
They fed you and bathed you
You thanked them by
Crying all night and keeping them awake

When you were 2 yrs old
They taught you how to walk
You thanked them by
Running away when they called

When you were 3 yrs. Old
They taught you poems
You thanked them by
Not speaking a word at the school interview

When you were 4 yrs old
They took you out for meals
You thanked them by
Tossing the plate on the floor

When you were 5yrs old
They bought you crayons
You thanked them by
Spoiling all the drawing room walls

When you were 6 yrs old
They drove you to school bus
You thanked them by
crying loudly "I don't want to go??.."

When you were 7 yrs old
They bought you the best toys they found
You thanked them by saying
"my friend has got better ones !"

When you were 8 yrs old
They bought you a cricket bat
You thanked them by smashing
The neighbour's window pane

When you were 9 yrs old
They drove you to your friend's B'day Party
You thanked them by
jumping out of the car And not looking back.

When you were 10 yrs old
They paid for your music classes
You thanked them by
Never bothering to practice.

When you were 11 yrs old
They took you to a Hill Station for vacation
You thanked them by complaining
That your friends go abroad

When you were 16 yrs old
They invited your friends home on you B'day
You thanked them by asking them
To stay out and leave you and your friends alone in the room.

When you were 17 yrs old
They turned up for your School PTA meeting
You thanked them by blaming them
For embarrassing you in front of friends

when you were 18 yrs old
They taught you how to drive
You thanked them by taking the car
At every possible opportunity and Making them wait up in worry

When you were 19 yrs old
They were expecting important calls
You thanked them by
being on the Phone with friends for hours

When you were 20 yrs old
They wanted to discuss your career with you
You thanked them by saying that
Your plans are different from theirs

When you were 21 yrs old
They gifted you a two wheeler
You thanked them by leaving it at home
And roaming around in friends' cars

When you were 23 yrs old
They arranged for a job for you
You thanked them by complaining all the time
That its not 'your kind of work'

When you were 24 yrs old
They were excited to find a life partner for you
You thanked them by breaking the news
That you already have someone in mind

When you were 25 yrs old
They spent all their savings on your wedding
You thanked them by
Moving to a separate house with your spouse

When you were 30 yrs old
They called up with some advice on your baby
You thanked them by telling them
That things are different from their time

When you were 35 yrs old
They wished you on your wedding anniversary
You thanked them by going out with your wife
And leaving the kids behind for them to take care

When you were 40 yrs old
They asked your to attend a relatives' wedding
You thanked them by saying
That we are really very busy to go

When you were 45 yrs old
They wished to come over and stay with you
You thanked them by saying that your children
Had trouble 'communicating' with them

When you were 50 yrs old
They fell ill and needed your care
You thanked them by making sure
They had signed all 'property papers'


And then one day
They quietly went away
And everything you never did
Came crashing down on your face

We may find it childish and silly
To tell our parents in word that we love them
But can't we take our moments to make sure
They know this someway ?????.

There is no substitute for them
Cherish every single second spent in their care
They may not be your best friends
And you may not agree with everything they say
But this is one place you can just close your eyes
And trust blindly that whatever they are saying
Is only for your good ????..
Have different viewpoints from them
But never let it overpower love and respect.

THEY MADE YOU WHAT YOU ARE
THEY ARE NOT THE ONES TO BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED
LOVE THEM MORE THAN YOU LOVE YOURSELF
AND SHOW IT TOO ???????
LIFE IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT THEM???..OUR PARENTS !!!

Exercise for new Mothers - Stroller Strides

The American Woman has finally realised what Indian Women always knew. Having a baby is a full time job & exercise routine.

Tired of feeling guilty of leaving your child at a creche while going to the gym for a workout ?
An enterprising young mother in the US, has formulated an exercise plan, where young mothers with New Borns meet up with their children in strollers and take a joint walk and short breaks to develop other muscles.

What is Stroller Strides?
Stroller Strides is a total fitness program for new moms that they can do with their babies. It includes Power Walking and intervals of body toning using exercise tubing and the stroller. Taught by nationally certified instructors, it's a great workout for any level of exerciser. Please get doctor's permission before starting this or any other exercise.

What do I need?
You, your baby and the stroller. Just about any kind of stroller will do so long as it's not prone to tipping. We also suggest you bring WATER, a hat or sunblock for both you and your baby, and a towel or mat for our ground exercises.

What can I expect when we meet?
Each class consists of a warm up, a power walk and "stations" where we do a variety of body toning exercises. We use exercise tubing (which we provide you with), the stroller and the outdoor environment to create our gym. If your baby is fussy, we will show you exercises that you can do with your baby.


So guess, nani & Dadi have always known best !!!

What's ours on the Net?

Put aside for the moment question of what's legally ours on the Net. Instead, consider what's ours in a less explicit and less rigorous sense. Google feels like ours (even though it legally belongs to its
shareholders) while Microsoft's new search site feels like theirs. Weblogs feel like their ours while online columns do not. The Mac feels like it's ours while Dell computers do not. Craigslist feels like it's ours while newspaper classified ads and Monster.com feel like theirs. In fact, many of us feel and act as if downloaded mp3s were ours. Is this sense of "ours" an illusion? Is it a temporary artifact that will vanish in months or years? What makes something that's not legally ours still feel that way, on the Web or off? And does this provide a way of figuring out why many of us feel so passionately about the load of bits we call the Net?


--
Thanks GG

Not Just a Mom

------------
Not "Just a Mom"
------------

A woman named Emily renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's
office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She
hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job, or are you
just a...

"Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "I'm a mother."

"We don't list 'mother' as an occupation... 'housewife' covers it," said
the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same
situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a
career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title
like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar." "What is your
occupation?" she probed.

What made me say it, I do not know... The words simply popped out. "I'm
a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human
Relations."
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair, and looked up as
though she had not heard right.

I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written in bold, black
ink on the official questionnaire.

"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in
your field?"

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply,
"I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't), in the
laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and
out). I'm working for my Masters, (the whole darned family), and already
have four credits, (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the
most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I
often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more
challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more
of a satisfaction rather than just money."

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she
completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I
was greeted by my lab assistants - ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could
hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby), in the
child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.

I felt triumphant! I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on
the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to
mankind than "just another mother."

Motherhood...What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on
the door.

Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research Associates in the field of
Child Development and Human Relations" and great grandmothers "Executive
Senior Research Associates"? I think so!!!

I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants".